Safety hook

ABSTRACT

A safety hook for use with a sling wherein the hook is equipped with a simple, yet sturdy pivotal latch for locking a load in position.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF INVENTION

This invention relates to a safety hook and more particularly to a hookwith a reliable, yet simple safety latch. Hooks with safety latches havebeen known for a long time but for the most part are excessively largeand complicated - see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,126,604 and2,835,013 (Class 24-241). The prior art has employed resiliently mountedlatch members to close the throat between the shank and bill of a loadhook. However, the mounting and operation of the latching members in theprior art has been sufficiently complicated so as to deter their widespread usage. In contrast, the instant invention provides a simple, yetreliable arrangement wherein the latch member is pivotally connecteddirectly to the shank of the hook for a sturdy lock, yet one which isfoolproof and simple in operation. Other advantages and objectives ofthe invention may be seen in the ensuing specification.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention is illustrated in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawing, in which

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the inventive hook;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view, partially in section, of the hook ofFIG. 1 and showing the alternative position of the latch member indashed line;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the hook of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but of a modified form of theinvention.

In the illustration given, and with particular reference first to FIG.1, the numeral 10 designates generally a hook constructed according tothe teachings of this invention. The particular hook illustrated in thedrawing is intended for use with a sling and for that purpose has at itsupper end a sling passage or eye 11 for the receipt of a wire rope sling(not shown). It will be appreciated that the hook normally is cast as aunitary piece out of alloy steel and thus the passage or bore 11 can bereadily contoured and the upper surface 12 also conforms to the contourof the passage 11. It will be appreciated that the advantages of theinstant invention apply to load hooks of varying construction anddesign.

The cast hook body 10 has a shank portion 13 immediately below thepassage 11 which curves forwardly and then upwardly to provide the usualbill portion 14. As can be readily appreciated from a consideration ofFIG. 2, the bill 14 is spaced forwardly of the shank 13 and is inconfronting relation therewith to define a throat 15. The throat isclosed by the latch member generally designated 16. A load can be placedon the hook 10 by rotating the safety latch 16 to the dotted lineposition 16' -- the invention being concerned with the latch and itsmounting which achieves this.

The latch member 16 is essentially L-shaped having an upper leg 17 whichis pivotally secured to the shank 13 by means of the spring loaded boltand nut arrangement generally designated 18 (see also FIG. 2). The latchmember 16 also includes a lower link 19 which is bifurcated at its lowerend as at 20 (see FIG. 1) so as to conform to the contour of the upperportion of the bill 14.

In the form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, the shank 13 isequipped with a recess as at 21 (see FIG. 2) into which the threadedbolt 22 is inserted. The recess 21 is generally cylindrical andaccommodates a spring 23 and nut 24. The spring 23 bears at one endagainst the seat 21a in the recess 21 and at the other end against thenut 24. As is clearly seen in FIG. 2, the latch 16 can be rockedinwardly to the position designated 16" where the bifurcated end 20 ofthe latch 16 can pass by the bill 14 to as to put the latch 16 in the16' position of FIG. 1. The recess 21 is sized and arranged so that theend of the assembly 18, for example, the threaded end of the bolt 22, isbelow the tangent line 25 -- so as not to interfere with a wire ropesling inserted into the eye 11.

The modified form of the invention seen in FIG. 4 includes anessentially similar hook 110 consisting of the shank 113 merging intothe bill 114. The latch member 116 in this illustration is constructedof spring material and eliminates the need for the compression spring23. The shorter leg 117 of the L-shaped latch member 16 is substantiallyrigidly connected to the shank 13 by virtue of peening or riveting thehead 118a of an integral stud 118.

The operation of the embodiment of FIG. 4 is similar to that of theembodiment in FIGS. 1-3. The locked position of the latch member 16 or116 is accomplished by the contour 20 of the lower end of the latchmember 16 so as to conform with the bill of the hook. The latch member16 or 116 is forced downwardly until it clears the point of the bill 14or 114, i.e., to the position 16", before it can be opened to position16' by pivoting. The contoured end 20 of the latch member 16 or 116extends past the diameter of the bill 14 far enough to prevent the samebeing opened by any forces except those combining first downward orinward direction and thereafter a lateral direction.

A significant advantage of both embodiments of the invention overexisting safety latches on hooks is that it does not occupy space in thethroat or opening of the hook thus allowing an unobstructed access toattach a load. Also, there is more unobstructed use of the area withinthe hook as it is unnecessary to push the lever latch member all the waydown to unload the hook. More particularly, the mounting of the latchmember is internal of the hook, as contrasted to the latch mounting manyswivel type hooks. This is extremely advantageous in sling hook usage.The mounting of the hook on the surface of the shank confronting thepoint of the bill provides an extremely advantageous manner of pivotingthe latch in an arc parallel to the confronting surface 13a of the shank13. This makes possible an access opening above the point of the bill 14(when the latch member is in the 16' position) which is equal to orgreater than the throat 15 -- and the entire unlatching and latchingoperation can be performed with one hand. The mounting provides anadvantageous slimness of profile which avoids any inadvertantdestruction of the latch during the rough usage normally encounteredwith such hooks.

I claim:
 1. A safety hook comprising a unitary body having a shankcurving downwardly and forwardly into a bill with the upper end of saidbill being in spaced relation to said shank to provide a throat,saidbody at the upper end thereof being equipped with a passageway adaptedto receive a wire rope, said passageway extending from the rear of saidbody forwardly therethrough, said passageway being relatively elongatedand being longitudinally arcuate, a latch member pivotally mounted onsaid shank and extending across said throat in a first position toreleasably engage said bill to close said throat, a bolt pivotallysecuring said latch member to said shank for arcuate movement of saidlatch member to a second position upon said bill, said passageway havinga smooth upper wall and a lower wall interrupted to provide a forwardlyextending recess terminating in a bolt-receiving opening, said boltextending through said opening into said recess, and a spring and nut insaid recess mounted on said bolt, said recess being constructed andarranged relative to said nut and bolt so as to shield the same from awire rope in said passageway.
 2. The safety hook of claim 1 in whichsaid latch member is generally L-shaped having a first leg mounted onsaid shank and a second leg extending across said throat into releasableengagement with said bill, said bolt extending through said first legwith said first leg being shorter than said second leg.